Hydraulic systems operate by circulating a hydraulic fluid repeatedly throughout the hydraulic system, where movement of the hydraulic fluid is used to selectively power hydraulic system components. As the hydraulic system operates, unwanted gas from certain hydraulic system components may permeate into the hydraulic fluid. If the hydraulic fluid becomes saturated with gas, the hydraulic system may experience issues, such as a decreased level of performance, unwanted noise, or even potential damage to the hydraulic system components. Manually purging the gas from the hydraulic fluid may be costly or time-consuming, and is not always an option on some types of hydraulic systems, especially hydraulic systems that are intended to be sealed for life.
In one approach, a separator may be utilized to remove the gas from the hydraulic fluid. There are several known types of separators for removing the gas trapped within the hydraulic fluid. The separator has the ability to absorb gas while limiting the absorption of hydraulic fluid.
In at least some types of separators, a polymer may be used to absorb the gas. The polymer may be designed to absorb the gas from the hydraulic fluid, while substantially restricting the hydraulic fluid from entering the separator. The polymer's physical properties may be modified in order to restrict ingress of the hydraulic fluid into the separator. In one example, the outer surface of the polymer is modified to change the polymer's microporosity and hydrophobic properties. However, producing polymers to have the ability to repel fluid while still being able to absorb gas may require complicated manufacturing processes, may be costly, and may have absolute pressure limits below those of modern high-pressure hydraulic work circuits.
Therefore, there exists a need to provide a cost effective separator for a hydraulic system that absorbs at least some of the gas from the fluid, while substantially restricting the flow of fluid into the separator.